Best Tweets from #SEMrushchat: How to Hire a Digital Marketing Superhero

Last week, we had a fantastic Twitter chat with John Doherty about hiring the right kind of marketer for your company. Our community discussed the types of skills marketers need today to build their reputation, ways a business can vet remote workers and consultants, why a company would choose a consultant over an agency, determining which level of marketer to hire, and which questions you should ask when hiring.

The conversation offered so many ideas and insights; it would be hard for anyone to not learn something from the responses below. We carefully selected the answers we thought would offer you the most helpful information. Our guest John has so much experience in this area, and he is featured a lot.

He also provided two great resources in the chat that we want to share with you. One will help you determine what you could be paying to work with an established marketer, and the other will guide you through hiring an agency:

So please read the ideas our community shared and let us know which piece of advice you like the most.

You can retweet any of the tips below by clicking on the Twitter logo next to the quote.

Ryan Bennion

A lot of digital marketers feel they have to get all these certifications/trainings. While those are helpful, on-the-job experience (whether paid or internship) that ties performance back to revenue/bottom line is more valuable than all of those certs.

John Doherty

Every marketer should have their own side projects that they work on to test new things. You'll never learn more than when you're accountable to doing everything - product, messaging, audience, etc.

Lily Ray

Get your hands dirty actually doing the marketing yourself. Build a website. Run the campaign. Implement the SEO recommendations. Do this for your family business or your friend’s online store. The more first-hand experience, the better.

Brian Kato

Put in the time to conduct your own experiments. Get a test website, watch YouTube videos and read up on industry blogs, learn how to rank a site. There's nothing like getting into the trenches and actually learning what works and what doesn't

Jacques Bouchard

I read @Marie_Haynes's newsletter and pay to attend industry events- even when the cost hurts. Reading books seems old-fashioned, but can be foundational for knowledge. I also have talented friends for advice/lifelines. I wish there were good meetups nearby.

Yosef Silver

Be honest. Be kind. Be genuine. Know your expertise and know when to say no. And know the right people to refer things to when it's not your expertise..

Look for people with past experience working remotely. Lots of people like the idea of working from home but can't actually handle it when put in that situation.

John Doherty

First, culture. Do they have the same traits you value in your best employees? Are they collaborative, smart, empathetic, inquisitive, and enjoyable to be around? If not, don't hire them. Companies are destroyed by brilliant employees that no one likes.

Sam McRoberts

In addition to asking for case studies and/or references, I put them through a test. I observe over screenshare as they spend 10 minutes live auditing a site I’m familiar with. I learn their process, tools they know, how they think, what they prioritize, etc.

Alexis Katherine

Ask how they contribute to revenue and see if they can give you an answer. Everyone has case studies and quotes and nice graphs. The good ones know that the bottoms line is...the bottom line.

Mark Gustafson

THIS ISN’T DONE ENOUGH Use them as a consultant on a small project. You’ll get a lot of exposure to their actual skills. See if they can talk the talk but then see if they can do the work too.

Yosef Silver

This isn't scientific, but trust your gut... I'd rather hire the right fit in terms of personality getting the right vibe with the team. Skills can be taught, processes can be learned. Make sure you like and trust the person.

John Doherty

First, ask yourself what team you have in place. Is the entity you hire meant to support someone you already have, or will the entity be fully owning that channel? Basically, ask if you need the strategy too or just execution.

Corey Northcutt

Point of contact at many large agencies is an intern/underqualified or a salesperson. This avoids that. Most requests I've seen for 'solo not agency', though, boil down to 'I want quality talent and I'm not willing to compensate it fairly' (unfortunately).

Stevie Howard

As weird as it sounds, I have always felt that solo consultants are able to give more attention and time to what needs to be done. They are very reliant on their clients so they put in the important work more often.

David Cohen

One significant reason to choose a consultant vs an agency is speed of execution. Agencies are often bloated and slow-movers. Too many calls and meetings. Too much 'strategy' and not enough performers that can produce business results.

PredictableSEO

Specialization. When you're looking for a specific result, hire only exactly what is needed. A solo consultant can put all their efforts on one thing, where an agency may not have the focus.

Amy Middleton Hebdon

Reduce the risk of getting sold by the A Team and having the B Team manage your accounts.

John Doherty

As a general rule of thumb, consultants = one channel and are best working on strategy and directing teams of doers. If you need services (code written, content created, outreach) then you're likely best off with an agency.

PredictableSEO

It would depend on the project, as well as the end goal. > Broad: This hire has the potential to be a leader and train additional new hires, and can educate on all facets. > Niche: A current project needs execution.

Brafton

It really depends on your goals, and how much time you can allocate to their professional development. If you need a PPC specialist to generate website visits STAT, you might not want to wait for a generalist to double down on their paid search skills, for example.

Lauren Osselton

I'd recommend starting with a generalist as your in-house marketer, then hire consultants and specialists for the elements your generalist needs help with (i.e. SEO, PPC, etc.).

John Doherty

Too many companies hire marketers by asking about tactics. If this is your first marketing hire, they need to understand business (YOUR business especially!) and have succeeded with it before.

Tamara

It depends on your overall goals. Niche specialists are great at tackling specific projects. Broad specialists can expand on a wide array of areas and work their way up to manager/director positions - leading a team.

Jacques Bouchard

What will your long- and short-term plans be to tackle our site, and do we have the resources/staff on hand to make that work for you?

Lead Forensics

I always like the successes and failures question in terms of their portfolio, what were the successes and what they identify as a success, and the failings and how they overcame the obstacles, need to know they can pivot!

Alizée Baudez

Questions that can evaluate their curiosity, especially if you want to hire a junior candidate. I believe curiosity is the most important quality in this industry.

Lauren Osselton

I think it depends on what you're hiring them for. That said, when I've interviewed in the past, I've always been interested in their CREATIVITY - that's something you can't teach. Ask for a creative solution they found to a problem.

Dan Willis

Ask them the KPI's they would track. If they respond with vanity metrics...RUN!

John Doherty

The question I find most useful when hiring a digital marketer might surprise you, but when I've hired someone without asking this question it's not worked out nearly as well as when I did.

Thank You to All of Those That Participated

Each week, we monitor the SEMrushchats looking for tweets that offer expert-level insights. So, please participate in the chat and share your advice. Don't miss this week's Live Site Audit SEMrushchat on Wednesday, July 17th at 11 AM ET/4 PM BST.

Comments

Beyond basic certifications, having a practice website, social media platforms, Google Search, Google Ad Words and Analytics set up is crucial to making necessary newbie mistakes that won't affect your client's bottom line. It also enables a digital marketer to become a savvy digital marketer, or snarketer. After experience, you will see trends, work faster and get your client to profit more quickly. That is the goal of a savvy digital marketer.

John & Corey's replies to the consultant vs. agency were very strong. Plus, I was really surprised to read most of the other responses saying "a consultant is THIS and an agency is THAT" and many of them were SO off. I know we speak from our own experience, but man do so many folks have agencies pegged wrong. I think it depends on the size of the agency, no? Since I'm the main contact for all of our SEO clients (and also the SEO Director), we aren't any less personal than I'd be if I was consulting.

Unfortunately, many people have had bad experiences with an "agency" because there are so many out there without experienced people running them.

And honestly, I chose these answers because I have heard much of the same from businesses in the last 15 years. The whole reason John's GetCredo service does so well is he makes sure the agencies on his list can actually do a good job. A good agency is not always easy to find. There are those that love the work and there are those that see the work as great reoccuring income, but the quality of the work doesn't matter.

Brendan, THANK YOU for the comment and for the additional questions. I completely agree that many have agencies pegged wrong, and it's interesting to look at who is saying that and why they might be saying it. In this chat it was often solo consultants who may have worked in an agency before who did that. In agencies I've worked for, we had fantastic client experiences and retained clients for a long time, and didn't use cheap outsourced labor to do things.

I think agencies get a bad rap because of a few bad (or cheap!) apples. You get what you pay for at the end of the day.

This was a great chat to participate in! I agree with John that nothing beats having your own experience with things. When I was starting in my SEO Director position at Clique Studios, most of my rec's came from my own sites, my own work, and my own clients. It's a blessing to be able to level up on your own. Take advantage.